Negative Tender App – Features and Use Cases for Water Refill Stations

Negative Tender App – Features and Use Cases for Water Refill Stations

Product: Negative Tender App (for Clover POS) Category: Refunds, Credits & Negative Transactions / Payouts Last Updated: February 19, 2026 Applies to: Merchants using Clover POS who need to handle cash payouts, refunds, credits, or negative tenders — especially water refill stations, bottle deposit/return businesses, recycling centers, convenience stores, lottery retailers, vendors paying customers (e.g., bottle returns), or any operation issuing cash adjustments from the till.

Overview

The Negative Tender App from CSI Works is a payout solution designed for Clover POS systems. It enables merchants to process non-sale cash payouts directly from the register without using inventory adjustments, discounts, or standard refunds. This keeps transactions clean, track-able, and visible in Clover reports as negative amounts (e.g., cash adjustments or negative payouts).

Common use cases include:

  • Returning bottle deposits to customers (e.g., water refill businesses, bottle return programs)
  • Paying out vendors or suppliers from the cash drawer
  • Regesting the owner draw from cash drawer 
  • Handling recycle value payouts, lottery winnings, or other merchant-to-customer or vendor payments

The app supports month-to-month subscriptions for testing, with discounted annual pricing available for long-term use.

Key Question

Can the Negative Tender App support bottle deposit refunds and other negative transactions for a water refill business (or similar operations with bottle rentals/returns)?

Answer

Yes, the Negative Tender App is well-suited for water refill stations, bottle deposit businesses, and similar companies. It handles most scenarios effectively, with one key limitation on payout methods.

Supported Features

  • Process a standalone negative transaction (e.g., cash payout from the till for returned bottle deposits) → Yes
  • Apply a payout/credit amount toward a larger transaction (e.g., customer returns bottles and uses credit to reduce payment on new filled bottles or purchases) → Yes
  • Issue payouts via credit card, debit, or cash → Cash only for negative tenders/payouts (For card-based refunds, use Clover's standard refund tools when tied to the original payment method. Negative Tender focuses on cash adjustments.)
  • Track bottle refunds and generate reports showing dollar amount refunded/paid out (by day, month, employee, etc.) → Yes Transactions appear as negative payouts or cash adjustments in Clover reports and shifts for easy reconciliation. Negative tender app also has additional reports.
  • Process other negative tender transactions (e.g., vendor payments, recycle payouts, store credits as cash, lottery cashouts, etc.) → Yes

Important Notes for Bottle Deposit Refunds (Water Refill / Bottle Return Businesses)

  • Do NOT tie the refund to the original deposit transaction. Create a new negative tender transaction via the Negative Tender App for returns.
  • Handle the payout as a cash adjustment (not a card refund). This records it correctly as a negative payout in reports (e.g., "negative payout for bottle deposit refund"), making monthly tracking of refunded amounts straightforward for accounting and inventory reconciliation.
  • Ideal for businesses like water refill stations, where customers pay a deposit to rent reusable bottles and receive cash back upon return.

Demo Videos

See the app in action, including bottle fee + negative tender payout examples: → YouTube Search/Playlist: Negative Tender App Videos

Still have questions?

Contact CSI Works support:

  • Email: info@csiworks.net
  • Sales Phone/Text: 619-246-8236
  • Support Phone/Text: 760-542-2178